A while ago, someone mentioned that a Sepharidic Jew can practice polygamy. Does anyone know how many wives he can have at the same time? Is there a limit?
Sephardic polygamy is restrcited by two factors:
(1) The country in which they live. If they live in a country where polygamy is illegal (the United States, for example), then he cannot have more than one wife here.
(2) He must be able to support them all and see to their needs (physical, economical, emotional and sexual) on a regular basis.
Interestingly enough, I attended a Sephardic wedding recently. When the kesubah was read, there was a clause in it that stated that the groom would not marry any additional wives. In such a case, the clause is binding and the groom cannot marry another wife.
Zev Steinhardt
I’ve heard some Islamic law limits the number of wives to four. Is there a similar Jewish tradition. I kinda figured it was derived from Jacob’s wives Leah & Rachel & their two maids.
No. The only restriction on the number of wives one can have under Jewish law (putting aside the ban of Rabbeinu Gershom and local laws) is that a Jewish king can only have 18 wives*. Commoners can have as many wives as they want, provided they can support them as I described above.
Zev Steinhardt
- Yes, Solomon had far more than eighteen wives, and he is roundly criticized for it in Rabbinic literature.
Just wondering, but didn’t Rabbeinu Gershom’s ban have a time limit? I think that it was supposed to expire in 5000. Do you know how it got renewed?
You’re correct in that it had an expiration date and that date has since passed. I’m not certain on how the ban became renewed, but, for all practical purposes, all of Ashkenazic Jewry currently lives by the ban.
Zev Steinhardt
Well, yeah, I know that. Most of Sephardic Jewry lives by the ban too, for that matter. I think the only people who regularly have multiple wives are Yemenites, and since most of them live in Israel now, most of them are monogamous too.
To be precise, do you actually mean a Jewish king can have no more than 18 wives?
And by “Jewish king” do you mean a king of Israel or Judah? Does it apply to “sucessor” states, like the modern Israel (and if it does, does the restriction apply to the Prime Minister)? Or, does “Jewish king” mean any king who happens to be Jewish, whether or not the kingdom is “Jewish”?
Is the ban of Rabbeinu Gershom what prohibits Ashkenazic Jews from polygynous marriages?
Isn’t there a requirement that a man get permisssion from 100 rabbis before he can take an additional wife? And AFAIK Jewish communities ceased practicing polygyny in medieval Europe so they wouldn’t offend their Christian overlords more than usual. I think I remeber something about Jews in Yemen practicing polygyny into the 1950s.
Deut. 17:17- [The king] must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
Many, in this case, is over 18. The king is free to have fewer wives.
Yes, no more than. He can have fewer.
The rule certainly applied to pre-split Kings of Israel (i.e. Saul) and kings of Judah. I’m fairly certain it applied to post-split kings of Israel (Ahab, etc.), and possibly even the Hasmoneans in the Second Temple era, but I could be wrong on that.
That, local laws, and practicality.
Even though polygamy was allowed, it was never very common. For example, of all the Rabbis mentioned in the Talmud, none of them are noted as having more than one wife at a time.
Zev Steinhardt
No. Permission from 100 Rabbis will not allow a Jew to take a second wife except in a very controlled set of circumstances.
Rabbeinu Gershom made a number of decrees. One was against polygamy. Another one was that a husband could not divorce his wife against her will.
A heter me’ah rabannim (permission of 100 rabbis) is used in a case where a wife cannot accept a divorce (i.e. in a vegitative state) or will not accept one despite a summons from a Jewish court. In order to obtain a heter me’ah rabannim, the husband has to deposit the divorce with the court, allowing her to pick it up whenever she is ready to.
Zev Steinhardt
I’m interested in the mechanics of how one would obtain this permission. It sounds just as logistically daunting as religiously difficult. Is there a formalized process for this, or is the man just expected to go around to the nearest 100 rabbis he can find and plead his case to each individually? If every other rabbi refuses permission, but he eventually visits 200, is the permission of half of them just as valid as the permission received by a man who only has to visit 100? What about a member of an isolated population where there aren’t 100 recognized rabbis?
I’m afraid that I don’t know the mechanics of the process. From what I understand (and I may be wrong on this), the rabbis must come from at least three different countries, so one could not just round up the nearest 100 rabbis.
It is a very seldom-used procedure. I’m afraid that I just don’t have the information that you are looking for. Maybe one of our other Jewish Dopers?
Zev Steinhardt
Pardon a slight hijack, but when did polygyny stop being legal among most Jews? I know of course that polygynists among Jews, as with every other culture where it has ever been practiced, were a tiny minority, but in the first or second century would it have raised eyebrows if a wealthy Jewish merchant had two wives? (Herod the Great [who was technically Jewish though many would have argued in his own day] had 10 wives [two of whom were his nieces] but there is some argument as to whether he practiced polygamy or just constantly divorced and remarried.)
Polygyny stopped being legal among Ashkenazic Jews with the ban of Rabbeinu Gershom about 1000 years ago.
While it was very uncommon to have two wives before then (as in the first or second century), it was not unheard of.
Zev Steinhardt
Not that Herod the Great is the best model of ethical Jewish behavior, either.
Never mind Jewish, what about the spin-off series know as christianity. Since they get the laws from jews, should poligamy be legal too?
Considering that Christians do not keep kosher, do not observe the (Jewish) Sabbath and holidays, do not don tallis and tefillin daily and do not observe the other Jewish commandments, why do you think that they would be influenced in any way by Jewish law?
Zev Steinhardt
Early Christians were influenced more by the Romans and Greeks who did not practice polygyny, hence the prejudice. When they began converting pagans monogamy was a requirement (hence Clovis of the Merovingians got rid of his wives and concubines when he married Clotilda and converted and Vladimir of Kiev supposedly divorced hundreds of wives when he married Anna of Byzantium).
Martin Luther is known to have allowed at least one childless nobleman to take a second wife in order to secure an heir, then there were odd incidents like the Anabaptist Kingdom of Muenster, but generally the Greco-Roman prejudice held firm.